i don't think he really respected governor romney at that point, probably thought he might have been a bit of a lightweight, also a feeling president obama wanted to feel presidential and above it all and all those things combined for a horrific performance, even his aides would admit that and he would admit that at this point. it put romney back in the race when many of us thought he might be a goner. >> just a few short weeks later hurricane sandy hit and president obama had an opportunity to appear with new jersey governor chris christie, sort of certifying a bipartisan image before the election which a lot of people thought tipped the scales back to him. >> certainly a break for the election, sandy hit the northeast. it's always good for presidents to appear presidential, to appear to be doing things. to have that happen a week out of the election was certainly an advantage. probably lost votes in the northeast states because people couldn't get to the polls, but i can't help think it was an advantage, if only to stop momentum romney had going into the last week. >> and some of m